Murder Mystery

[Yellowbelly]

Newbie posting

I have a mature 4' tank with nothing exotic in it and thought it was a peaceful community tanks until last Friday. I added 10 cardinals, all 1" plus and all seemed well- until the next day. All 10 had gone. I would never have added them without being absolutely sure about the nature of the tank's inmates, some of which I have had for years. I see very little aggressive behaviour.
The suspects are: 4 Angels- medium size and 4 long finned barbs (they look a little like Arulius barbs but I am not sure what they are. These are all 2.5-3 ionches long. The final suspect is a redline torpedo- 3" long. The remainder are not on the suspect list- mollies, small tetras.
Nine of thses fish touched fry that appeared despite them being the size of pinheads- supporting my view that this is a standard community tank.
I take fish welfare seriously and have been keeping fish for 20 years plus but this has me baffled.
Any ideas?

 

[Caprichoso]

I've heard about Angels snacking on Cardinals before. I'm not familiar with the other suspects. I wouldn't consider Angel fish to be community fish. I put them in the category, "proceed with caution". After all, look at the type of fish they are.

 

[micko]

I've had angels munch cardinals before, I would say they'd be number one suspect. I personally don't believe angels should be kept in community tanks. Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Neon Tetras are one of angelfishes natural foods in the wild, but i've heard that cardinals are usually fine to keep with angels (despite being similar to neons). Have you checked the filter though for any bodies?

 

[Yellowbelly]

Thanks for the quick responses- nothing in the filter. Looks as if the Angels stand condemned. Odd that they did not touch tiny fish that were born in the tank. No more little fish for me!